Preview of class November 1, 2009

Here is this week's "anticipation question", as we hope (and expect) to break into chapter FOUR of the Epistle to the Hebrews:

What does this solar system body tell us about how we must relate to God?

In this chapter, the writer seeks to improve upon his warning exhortations to his readers, and to draw the example of the Exodus generation close to their present-day consciousnesses.  After all, essentially the same invitation into the life of faith had been given to his audience as that with which the Exodusi (the members of the Exodus generation -- I invented this term) had been graced.

What went wrong was their lack of faith - the writer has been saying the same thing over and over again.  The author provides an important weapon against encroaching unbelief at the beginning of chapter four.  However, this weapon has fallen upon unpopular times these days.  We will try to diagnose the situation.

Also this week, I plan to assign homework that will involve reading and blog-work.  Gird up your loins, folks, things are going to heat up in our class this week, and we need to do a good job.  It will take effort to enter into God's rest!

Partakers of Christ - Preview of class October 25, 2009

[My home remodeling project continues apace, leading to abbreviated blog entries.  Kindly bear with me.]


Brethren - We are partakers of Christ - we share in all that is his and all that he is - if we hold our confidence firm to the end.  We have been speaking of the need for perseverance for many weeks, but what about the rewards of perseverance?  They are nothing less than the unsearchable riches of who Christ is and what he provides for us.  In light of all this treasure, perhaps the struggle of faith will not seem quite so laborious or daunting.  To what lengths will men go to receive treasures that will soon fade away or even prove to cause their own destruction?

No - our treasure is not that kind of treasure.

For one activity this week, we will step back and remind ourselves exactly what riches of grace belong to us in Christ, as we persevere in him.


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Our discussion last week about exhorting one another (Heb. 3:13) brought up a good bit of smoke and friction (kind of like my coal fires so far) but not as much light as I had hoped.  I want to start this Sunday with a brief encore on the subject, employing a little metacognition (which is a fancy educational term meaning 'thinking about thinking').  Our discussion last week might help us to gain a bit of unexpected insight into ourselves.

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Last week I posted two paintings of noted apostates and asked for you to identify them.  Here are the answers.  You can easily look up the two persons on Wikipedia.

Answer: Julian the Apostate

Answer: Robert the Pious.  This painting truly captured my imagination at the Musee D'Orsay in Paris.

Preview of class October 18, 2009

The main focus of our class this week will be our responsibility to exhort one another so that one of us may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Have you ever been grieved by the large numbers of people you have known who had once professed the Christian faith, and are now apostate?  People seem to blow in the door of the church only to blow back out after a while.  Many are perhaps rotating through different churches, but not a few fall away from the faith.

Can anyone identify this famous apostate?

How about this one?

Our text in Hebrews gives us some insight into why this might be so.  Our security and continuance in the faith very much depends on the help of the brethren in our committed relationship to our local church.  Hillary Clinton famously wrote that it takes a village to raise a child; might we not say that it takes a church to keep a Christian safe?  The writer to the Hebrews seemed to think so.

I apologize for having missed a post last week.  I have been furiously working on some home renovations that are needed before my son can return home.  Add in pressures in the M. Education program, and time in schools, and I have more than I can easily handle.  However, I have been better about posting than you have been faithful to participate in our discussion forum.  We will work at these tasks together!

An evil, unbelieving heart: Discussion Forum

Take care, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart...  Heb. 3:12

Exactly this kind of heart has been the possession of sinners of all ages and places.  Surely, it will display itself in outworkings in all facets of life.  However, it could be considered that different people groups, at different times, tend to display their sin-darkened hearts in accordance with certain societal or cultural themes.  For example, a western visitor to India is often shocked to see the open display of Hindu Gods and Godesses virtually everywhere in public and private.  (One might say such displays are ubiquitous.)

While Scripture teaches us that all men have suppressed the truth and forsaken the worship of the one true God, instead substituting even images of beasts and creeping things, one would not typically see this sort of imagery on the streets of Rochester, NY, for example.

Sometimes the imagery is hidden deep within men's hearts and souls, where few can ever visualize it.

We are much too sophisticated to worship in Pagan Temples here in America!  Plus, we cannot match the tasteful color schemes of the examples from India.

This week's discussion topic concerns the evil, unbelieving hearts of people in our own culture.  In your opinion, how do such hearts most frequently put themselves on display in our own time and place?  Proceed to the comments and start blogging.

Preview of class October 4, 2009

"Some say John the Baptist and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

"But who do you say that I am?"

Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the son of the living God."

The revelation to Peter of the unique person and role of Jesus Christ included the knowledge that Jesus belonged to a unique category, and was not merely another in the line of prophets that had been sent to Israel since ancient times.  He was the promised, divine Messiah.  The masses of the people knew that Jesus was a notable religious  personality, but failed to realize that he did not belong to the same category as the historical figures of their scriptures.

Warning: This image reflects doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church and not the opinions of this blog writer!  It is a great piece of art, however.  I really love the halo.

Category errors can be fundamental and lead thinking down incorrect channels, bringing in a host of falsely connected knowledge and leading to wrong conclusions.  When considering some subjects, the first task is to decide exactly how to think about it, before the thinking can be productive.  Otherwise, one ends up spinning their wheels at best, or more likely spinning out all sorts of mischief.

This week in the Sunday School class at Clarkson Community Church, we will take up formally the question of the destiny of the Exodus generation (the focus of an extended warning passage in the book of Hebrews) and try to avoid making a category error that would throw our minds into a muddle of confusion.  To understand the warning, we must reach some conclusions about its object.  If the foundation is bad, the superstructure of logic probably won't be any better.

Fortunately, this house was built on a good foundation.  

As always, I will not be afraid to put my neck on the block by taking a strong position on this important subject.  There will, however, be metal detectors at the door, so don't bring any knives.